Voice technology is already in use in many home devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google home. Voice applications are already available in many smartphones as we can use our voice to dictate messages along with smartphone assistants Siri, Google and Bixby.

Home owners can use voice to operate things in their home.

Voice is at the very infancy of its capabilities. People will be able to use their Alexa or Google Home to start their cars and adjust the temperature as well as other commands. Mercedes Benz is implementing a digital assistant in their newer vehicles.

People will be able to dictate a search as opposed to having to open google and type what they are looking for. Voice provides brands and businesses with an opportunity to improve customer experience. However, brands are not currently equipped to serve up content and engagement using voice.

Voice is at the beginning of the technology life cycle. Many believe that voice will be another channel added to the omnichannel experience. Others think that it will overtake existing channel. Bret Kinsella of voicebot.ai discussed the data behind the companies in voice, the technology, its adoption and market growth prospects in his talk Voice Platform wars.

In terms of how Voice is changing marketing, it is on marketers to find new ways to engage their customers using voice. Rob Bennett CEO of rehab agency discusses the impact of Voice technology in Marketing.

CMOs need to incorporate voice into the marketing mix along with the other channels.

Jeff Rhores, Mike Darne, Wilson Tang and Chris Vennard share how they use Voice in their business and its potential for brands.

In terms of SEO and buyer personas, they also need to be built for Voice. Duane Forrester discusses how brands can create a voice optimization strategy and brand personas.

The debate is still out on whether voice will replace social media. Brandon Kaplan of Skilled Creative discusses how voice will replace Social Media and ways Brands can create Voice experiences for their customers.

Voice is an exciting technology and it will be interesting to see how it changes Marketing and how we interact with our world.

Sales reps can only be as good as the product and message they represent. Before companies can hire Sales reps, they need a great product with messaging that conveys the benefits to customers. Sales reps need support from marketing in the cross functional organization of tomorrow. The messaging should be able to prevent customer objections. Unfortunately, this is where many Marketing departments fall short.

image via Salesforce.com

Many people who get hired in marketing, lack a sales background and have no idea on how to handle customer objections.

In addition, many people in Marketing lack the background and understanding of how people learn. Teachers and psychologists have this training. Understanding how people learn can make product messaging more effective because it can be presented in multiple formats. Many people in marketing lack practitioner experience and as a result marketing is not as effective as it could be. Practitioners are especially under represented in the Marketing function of many EdTech companies and this needs to change. Now I will make a case for hiring Sales Reps, Teachers and Industry practitioners in marketing.

Case for hiring ex Sales Reps

Knows how to handle objections which can be applied to message

Experience dealing with customers, knows customer pain points

Sees how end-user uses the product

Can increase sales using Sales expertise to make messaging customer centric

Can assist with Sales and Marketing Alignment as companies need to work cross functionally

Understands the issues Sales Reps face and has the credibility of being a Rep when collaborating with Sales Teams

Additional Resources

About the Author

Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. HubSpot Certified in Inbound Marketing, Dan has worked on various marketing assignments including Start Ups, a Political Campaign and a Digital Marketing Conference.

Prior to teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep in NYC. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach combined with direct marketing. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows.

He writes and publishes a business blog on the topics of Sales, Marketing and Social Media entitled Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today; which has grown to 24,000+ followers on LinkedIn and 19,000+ on WordPress.

Dan is seeking a full-time marketing role in Marketing. He is willing to create and build out the Marketing function of your organization if it does not exist. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.